if u really needed oil skwirters than all the ppl building high power ls vtecs would be shit outa luck. the rod bolts are the main thing to worry about when ur freshly built ls vtec is spinning at 8k and beyond. they are smaller than standard vtec bolts and arent really made to stay at 8k all day long. u can use the stock rod bolts as long as the motor doesnt see much abuse (but who builds an ls vtec just to baby it??). so yes, upgrade the rod bolts. u really dont need to replace seals unless the motor has a lot of miles on it. gaskets are important tho. also, to make some even better power using oem parts, get some oem type r pistons pressed onto the ls rods since u gotta put rod bolts in anyways. using stock ls pistons only gets u between 9.5:1 and 9.8:1 (depending on the head u use). also, im not sure about this but i dont think head studs are really necessary either. if the gurus at honda used standard head bolts on their performance motors (aka the type r) i dont c y they wouldnt work on ur ls vtec. as ive said before, some head studs (arp's) have such a high tq spec that the block will evenutally warp. u should really compare the costs and the benifits of buying after market and oem parts before u go and drop top dollar for something that will give u the same end result as something cheaper. point to be made....get rod bolts and gaskets first before u go n buy a buncha other crap. then u kno ur motor will stay together at high rpm.